This blog is about the KCCD2009 (King Croesus Contempt for Death) Trip and it's preparations. The journey will be performed on 2x 1939 Nimbus motorcycles with sidecars and ETD is April 2009. ETA is unknown, as you never know if it's a Sweet Chariot or an Infernal Machine you ride.

Monday, 14 February 2011

Alexandria 11th of February 2011

Saad Saghloul Square and the Corniche Street is boiling over of people. The atmosphere is somewhat reserved and tense till the big news come: Mubarak has stepped down. The atmosphere suddenly get ecstatic and those not already out there flock to the street.

Friday morning it’s clearly quiet before the storm. The streets are empty, and as we drive around with foreign bikes we quickly get hunted down by plain cloth police the checks passports, yells and wonder why we are here. That we are stuck awaiting ferry to Italy get responded with harassment and threats about what will happen later in the day, but we really don't have any other option than sit around here.

The ambience is reserved, tense and the streets are more or less empty. The military has fortified the port and central government buildings with APCs and tanks. Everybody knows the Friday prayer will be the turning point of the day, but it’ll be a peaceful day or turn into riots nobody really knows. It makes people as well as authorities nervous.

People GatherThe Friday prayer is over and it doesn’t take long before Corniche, the beach road is filled with marching people. Slogans get shouted from choir leaders with loudspeakers on pickup trucks and followed up by the masses. All ages is represented, and the ambience and so many kids presents gives and indicator that it might be a peaceful afternoon.

The police stays passive, and so do the military. The protesters march around, while others take a break with a cup of coffee and a shisha at the curbside restaurant along Corniche.

The news comesI’m sitting at a cafe’ when uncontrolled exultation breaks out. Mubarak has stepped down. Everybody rushes up from where they are sitting at café’s and restaurants, hugging each other, congratulating and shout. The streets start to boil for real, the horn on the cars honk and the people compete about making most noise.

The celebrating people climb up on monuments at the square, dancing. People stands on the roofs of the cars sending up fireworks while shouting with joy.

A couple of hours later the celebration is even more intense. People rushes to the center from outskirts of the town. It’s evidently the day of the youth. Hassan that I speak to has broken his arm in the riots earlier, but says “We won, it was worth it!”

The young generation feel it was mostly their uprising. Mohammad says “Mubarak his administration hasn’t realized what the younger want and needs, and we’re sick and tired of corruption and misgovernment” Fazy says he hopes for more freedom.

It’s clear that it’s not only an optimism that rules today, it’s rather over-optimism. That the hardest part of the “revolution” is left is not a topic people want to hear about this day.

After a while I hide the memory card in my shoe, put in a fresh one and move over to where the military is present. Quite some civilians are gathered around an APC, while kids and girls get helped up on it by soldiers and taken pictures of. The cameras on the mobile phones are in constant use to immortalize the moment everybody regards as historic.

I recognize the soldiers and officers; it’s the same guys that took us in for checking us out a few days earlier when we arrived in town. They are friendlier now and I ask if all is well. “It’s a good day, it finally over and ended like I hoped says one of the officers, obviously relieved as it’s over and he can finally express his feelings and opinions.